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Kyle Larson shatters Denny Hamlin's championship dream in NASCAR overtime

JHby: Jonathan Howard11/02/25Jondean25
Kyle Larson NASCAR championship Phoenix
Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

With a two-tire stop and NASCAR overtime, Kyle Larson shatters the dreams of Denny Hamlin and the 11 team. After leading for 208 laps, an overtime restart ended the dream season for Hamlin. Larson is now a two-time Cup Series champion.

Kyle Larson finished P3 to win the championship. Ryan Blaney beat Brad Keselowski by 0.097 seconds to win the race itself. Just an unreal turn of events.

Denny Hamlin looked like he was well on his way to winning the title. He was dominant all day. William Byron got a flat tire and hit the wall to trigger overtime, and it all evaporated. While Larson celebrates, the energy at the track is that of tragedy and disappointment for Hamlin.

Make no mistake, Kyle Larson had one of the best seasons. He is worthy of this championship, truly. Last night’s Xfinity Series championship ended with a sour mood because Connor Zilisch lost after such a dominant season. That’s not what today is about at all.

When you compare the two seasons, Larson and Hamlin have been neck and neck in points. Hamlin has pulled off more wins this year, but it’s not a Zilisch-type season.

The reason why Kyle Larson’s win tonight feels wrong is how it happened. Denny Hamlin beat those two-tire cars on a previous restart. He battled with William Byron to take the lead and, frankly, dominated all day. The fact that Larson didn’t lead a lap today and didn’t win the race, either, makes it feel like something went wrong.

Before today, Ross Chastain was the only driver to upset the Championship 4. He won the 2023 Phoenix race when Ryan Blaney took P2 and the championship. But tonight’s result was even muddier than that.

Blaney stole back a race that Chastain took from him. For a moment, it looked like Brad Keselowski had won, which would have been even wackier than this race already was. Larson finishes P3 and Hamlin finishes P6. The air was taken out of the building.

When the laps were counting down and Hamlin was still leading, it felt like the entire crowd in Phoenix was ready for it to happen. Fans and haters alike were ready to cheer and boo for Hamlin accordingly. It was like everyone just didn’t know what to do with themselves.

Kyle Larson is a two-time champion. He did it in one of the weirdest and strangest ways ever, but he did it. In the final season of the one-race finale format, a weird mix of emotions for all three national series championships. Next up, Daytona 2026.